


Love at First Sight

by Raven_Crow



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-11
Packaged: 2018-01-18 20:12:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1441306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven_Crow/pseuds/Raven_Crow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers moves into a new apartment and a neighbor falls head over heels. Literally.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Captain Steve Rogers lifts the last of the boxes from the U-HAUL. He can't wait to start unpacking them once they're inside his new apartment. As he lifts the last box from the U-HAUL, he feels an exciting sensation buzzing through him. _So this is what freedom feels like_ , he thought to himself.

Since he was awakened from the ice, Steve has been living on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. At first he didn't mind, but then he started getting cabin fever, kind of. The loud swooping of the propellers started to give him a headache, the ear-ringing sound of the sirens from weekly practice drills made his headaches even worse, the idolizing glare of S.H.I.E.L.D. personal watching him through the glass window as they pass by his quarters got on his nerves constently, the quarters itself was so plain and depressing to be in, and the lingering desire to return to society finally got the best of him. So, he went to Director Fury and requested to be moved off the helicarrier. A few weeks later, Steve found an apartment located in Brooklyn not far from where Steve grew up as a child. A couple of days later, he rents it out. Less than a day later, the Captain's moving in.

The U-HAUL drives away from Steve and his stack of cardboard boxes. He watches as it turns a corner far down the street and vanishes from view. Steve turns around and begins lifting boxes up off the sidewalk.

 

 

Mary hears the roar of an engine. She places the plate and sponge back into the soapy water and grabs the towel hanging off the oven handle to dry off her hands as she walks across the kitchen over to the window. She pulls back the curtains and looks down. To her amazement, a huge stack of cardboard boxes was standing by itself on the pavement sidewalk. _What type of idiot would leave boxes out like that in the street? Must be asking for 'em to get stolen._ Then out of the blue, she sees a tall, blonde man wearing a white button-up shirt and khaki pants, gleefully walk up to the boxes, taking the top box off the stack, and walks away. She gasps and says, "I know it," as she throws the towel to the counter.

Without hesitation, Mary hauls ass out of her apartment, down the hallway, begins making her descent down the staircase and... BOOM!!!!

 

 

Steve had no earthly clue what hit him, but he knows that it knocked him to the ground. His head was spinning, and his back was hurting like hell. Whatever hit him must have collided with the box he was holding 'cause it was laying beside him with an oval-shaped crater. He slowly sat up and place both hands on his head to stop the spinning. _Great, might as well go out and buy new dishes._

He heard an "Owww" not too far from him. Looking up, he saw in front of him a young woman laying on her side, barefooted in blue jeans and a light blue T-shirt. Steve's heart started to race. _Oh no._ _She must be unconscious._ He quickly got up and raced over to the woman. He gently flipped her onto her back, being extra careful with her head.

Steve grabbed her left wrist to check her pulse. He couldn't feel any. He laid the hand on her abdomen and checked her pulse from the side of her neck. _Thank God._ She had a pulse. By what he could tell, the woman isn't badly injured and was still breathing normally. He looked up at her face.

"Madam," Steve softly spoke, "are you alright?"

No response.

Wavy, reddish brown hair covered her face. With a light, gentle touch, he racked as much hair out of her face as he could. The woman's skin was soft and so unbelievably pale that it made Steve's skin look like it was tan. He slowly pulled back her left eyelid.

 

 

She couldn't get up. She felt tired all of a sudden. She couldn't feel her limbs, but she could care less.

Suddenly, she felt her body being rolled over by a pair of strong hands. She couldn't muster up the energy to open up her eyes, but she could tell that her sense of feeling was still working. She felt a light pressure building up around her left wrist as it was lifted up and then carefully placed on her stomach. Then something firm yet gentle touched the side of her neck, then disappeared. Moments later, she felt her hair being pushed out of her face by, what feels like, fingers. When most of it was gone, Mary could feel a cold breeze around her face. She didn't feel as tired as she used to be.

Then she felt something applying pressure to her eye. Her right hand grabbed a thick wrist and she opened her eyes.

 

 

Both of the woman's eyes pop open. She looks up at the ceiling and then looks at Steve. She gasps and quickly gets up.

"Madam, please wait," Steve begins to say, but she doesn't listen.

As soon as she stands on her feet, she begins to stumble. Her knees buckled as her body starts to fall. Before he could think, Steve got behind her, grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her into a bear hug.

"Wooo, try to be more careful next time, madam," Steve said to try to lighten the mood even though he knew deep down that this was going nowhere in the right direction. _She needs to get to a hospital._ Steve had a feeling that she had internal injures.

She tries to struggle out of his strong grip, but Steve isn't letting her go anywhere. "Hey hey hey, I'm not going to hurt you! Please stop struggling! You might be injured!"

The woman suddenly stops struggling and became still for a long while, long enough to notice the scent of apples coming from her hair. Steve can't help but inch his nose just a little bit closer to her hair. Then he notices how perfectly his arms wrap around her waist. It actually feels quiet comfortable. Then, she turns her head around towards Steve. Those eyes... her eyes... were two shining emeralds that were so easy for Steve to get lost in. _They're so beautiful, and yet..._ The expression on her face looks way too familiar to Steve.

 

 

Mary is seriously scared right now. She has no idea who the hell the guy is or why he's hovering over her. She recognizes him from when she was looking out her window. _That's the guy who was stealing those boxes! And he's OVER ME!!!_

She starts to panic. She tries to get up so that she can get away from him, and there was no point in saving the box 'cause she knows that she's too weak to actually fight this guy. _He's too freakin' huge... got da... run..._ Then like every other great plan she's ever came up with, she starts to fall, but then a strong pair of arms grab her from behind and pulls her towards the owner. Her back hits something hard... _no wait... this feels like... SHIT!_ She can feel the guy's chest plastered onto her back. _Ok, this dude is getting way too personal._

She tries to wiggle her way out of his embrace, but he just won't let go. The next thing she knows, she hears these words: "Hey hey hey, I'm not going to hurt you! Please stop struggling! You might be injured!"

Mary stops. _This guy..._ _thinks I'm hurt?!_   And yet, the guy's voice was... so soft and gentle. The arms that were wrapped around her waist made her feel safe and secure. _What the hell is wrong with me?_ Then, she feels him breathing in and out of her hair. The sensation makes her shiver. _Ok, this has got to stop._

She turns her head around to see the man face-to-face. Her heart begins to beat rapidly. The man's face was... perfection. His blonde hair shined like the Sun, bright and beautiful. His lips were full and pink and so kissable, but the best of all were those eyes. Those eyes were at just the right shade of blue that seemed to go along with the rest of this man's looks.

_God, how am I going to get out of this one?_


	2. Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Mary are starting to get acquainted with each other.

Steve and Mary continue to stare at each other for what seemed like forever, making both wonder if the other would say or do something to break the awkward silence. As Mary's fragile back is glued to Steve's rock-solid chest, the small space between them begins to grow wider.

 

As Steve continued to hold the young woman in his arms, his mind starts to go blank. He couldn't think of a way to get out of this awkward situation. Plus the fact that she is looking up at him with that expression. It reminds him of somebody, but he can't think for the life of him who it reminds him of. Finally, an idea pops into his mind.

He loosens his grip around her waist. Her body began to wobble violently.

"Wow." Steve tightens his grip, but only a little, and gently lowered her to the hard wood floor, leaning her back against the wall. "Madam, are you alright? Can you understand me?"

 

Mary continued looking up at the man even after he helped her to the floor. _He might not be as bad as I thought he would be._ Then, he says in a calm, gentle tone, "'Madam, are you alright? Can you understand me?"

 _God, he must think I'm stupid._ She answered back, "Yeah. Ouch!" Pain shot through her brain. Both hands flew straight to the back of her head and begins massaging small circles into her scalp.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Just got a headache there for a sec." Pain still lingered inside her head, but not as bad as it used to be a second ago.

The man breaths a sign. "I'm really sorry for bumping into you like that..."

"No," Mary interrupts. "It's fine. It was mainly my fault, but I sure did see you stealing those boxes outside..."

"Huh, well the last time I checked, those were my boxes. I'm moving into a room on the second floor." He looks at her with a grin.

"Oh." _Well, great. I just made myself look like a total jerk in front of the new guy._ She smile nervously. "Sorry. Its a motherly instinct of mine. There's been a lot of robberies lately and I just felt really uncomfortable with them outside 'cuz I knew there _had_ to be stuff in them, so I..." She paused when she saw the look the guy had on his face. _He's blushing! That's so adorable!_ And it was, but that wasn't all. _God, his hair is so beautiful._ And just like putting cherry on top of a sundae, this gorgeous specimen of perfection does the unexpected. He had the most dorky smile Mary had ever see.

The guy scratched his head nervously through his blonde locks."Well, thank you for come to the aid of my boxes,uh, do you have a name?"

"It's Mary."

"Well then, Mary, since you feel so over protective towards my boxes," the man starts to get to his feet. "Do you mind giving me a hand?" His hand reaches out towards Mary.

Mary thought about it for a moment. "Sure," she said. She takes his hand and he helps her to her feet. "Just one quick question... Well, actually two." She lifts up two fingers.

"Fire away," the man said as they made their way towards the staircase.

"OK. My first question: what do you go by?"

He chuckled. "Well..." He hesitates for a second. "Some of my friends like to call me Winghead."

"What?!"

"That's the honest-to-God truth."

They reached the staircase and begin to walk down the steeps.

"Is that your real name or just a nickname 'cuz I want a _real_ name, but Winghead sounds... so..."

"OK OK. My real name is Steve Rogers. Hold on, I don't remember getting a last name."

"Holden."

"Holden. Catchy name. Mary Holden..."

They reached the end of the stairs and began walking towards the main entrance.


	3. Chapter 3

By the end of that morning, all of Steve's boxes have been moved to his new home. Mary stayed to help with the unpacking, even when Steve told her she didn't have to. To be honest, Steve enjoyed Mary's company. He still couldn't believe how one could actually meet someone that was generous enough to help out a stranger, especially in this day and age. _She sure is something else._ They silently worked on unpacking the boxes and putting them up where they belonged.

They were in the living room when Steve looks up after setting up his TV set and asks, "Hey, Mary, mind telling me about the people around here?"

Mary was sitting on the couch unpacking some silverware for the kitchen when the question was asked. She replies. "Well, across the hall, Mike, who's a student at some college. I can't remember the name, but anyways, he likes to have his music on loud after he gets off work around 5. Some days I can hear it all the way down to my place, so just as a word of advice, make sure you got plans _elsewhere_ around that time."

"Gotcha." _Great._

"To your left as you walk into your front door, there's an old woman who goes by Mrs. Abbott. Every Sunday, she likes to give out fresh homemade bread, pies, and cookies to the homeless around the corner up by that light. She's the sweetest old woman you'll ever meet. Some Sundays I go out and help her and she lets me pick out something for my kids as payment."

"You have kids?"

"Yeah, three. The oldest's name is Demetri. He's 14. The middle child's name is Caleb and he's 11. Then my youngest is Rachelle. She just turned 4."

"Wow. Who's their father?"

"Well, Demetri is the only one I've given birth to myself. His father was a cop. He died in the line of duty when he was about a year old."

"Oh, I'm really sorry..."

"No no no, don't be. He died saving a boy from a driving by shooting after the boy testified in court against the very people who order the attack." She smiled weakly. "He sacrificed his life in order for another to live theirs. That's why him and I worked for the NYPD."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You were a cop? That would explain why you tried to tackle me."

Mary giggled and her smile widened. "Well, I'm still on the force, you know. I couldn't really help it."

Steve smiled back and continued working. "So, how did you get your other two kids?"

"Caleb and Rachelle were adopted. I found Caleb in an orphanage in North Carolina. His parents were killed while their house was being robbed and he had no other living relatives, so the state put him up for adoption. Around that time, I was working an undercover sting operation to investigate an alleged child trafficking ring that extended from Maine down the coast to South Carolina. It eventually brought me to Caleb's orphanage in North Carolina. Apparently, these people were selling kids from orphanages to make a quick buck. Caleb was one of the kids that they were trying to sell.  The first time I saw him, my heart instantly went out to him. The conditions these kids were forced to live in... I'm sorry but it's too disguising to get into detail."

"It's alright. Please continue."

"Well, long story short, everyone involved got arrested, and all the kids were placed into foster homes, except for Caleb, of course. It took 6 months, but I finally got to adopt him."

Steve screwed a nail into the wall. "So, what about Rach..."

"We call her lil' Ray-Ray for short."

Steve looked back at Mary with a smirk, trying not to laugh. Carefully, he said, "Why... did ya'll decide to call her... lil' Ray-Ray?"

"I thought it had a nice ring to it, plus Rachelle _loves_ it, makes her feel all cool and such."

"God. OK, please go on."

"Well, anyways, Rachelle's parents came into the country illegally from Poland while her mother was pregnant. They laid low for a while until Rachelle's mother went into labor and had to go to the hospital. As soon as the hospital staff figured out the parents had fake ID'S, they called the police. I was one of the arresting officers called to the scene with a couple of deportation officials. In a normal case, the parents would be deported out of the country with their child, unless they decide to let the child to stay in the country. They decided to leave the child and go back to Poland."

:That's just...," Steve began to say trying to find the right word, "...cold."

"I know. I could never really figure out why they would want to leave her after all their hard work trying to have her born here. It really sickened me, still does."

Then there was silence. All of a sudden - BANG! - it made both of them jump. It came from the room next door that was closed to the window at the end of the hall. They heard footsteps stomping across the hall. Then there came a loud knock from Mike's door. Nobody answered, but they continued to beat on the door like somebody was trying to break the door down.

"Wait here," Steve got up and walked to the door. Even though he had no idea who this person was, but he knew that they meant trouble.

Just as he was about to open the door, a voice behind him said, "Hold on, Steve. Don't go out there yet." It was Mary. She ran from the couch and nudged her way in between Steve and the door. "I know who this is." She batted Steve's hand off the doorknob and turned it.

Right across the hall, a tall, young African-American male was standing in front of the door pounding the door with both fists. "You mothafuck-"

"ANTHONY," Mary shouted, making both men jump.

The man turned his head. "What?!"

"The fuck are you doing?"

Anthony walked over and handed Mary a piece of ripped notebook paper. It read:

 _To the Matheson Family_ ,

 _You have no right to tell me what I'm allowed to do in my apartment._ _What I do in my apartment is my business, no yours._

_I'm sorry if I annoy you in any sort of way, but you got to understand, you can either move or turn up the volume on your_

_TV or radio or whatever, ok? The way I run my apartment is of no concern to you or your sickly mother. I don't care if she doesn't_

_agree with the music or if it gives her a headache. She needs to get used to it. I'm just doing me.  
_

_Mike_

The expression on Mary's face began to match that of Anthony's. "What the hell does he think gives him the right to say this?"

"I found that in my door when I came home from work. That pussy must of put it there after I left."

Mary looks up from the note. "Has your mom seen it?"

"No and she never will." Anthony snatches the note from her hands.

Steve's hands squeeze on the doorway.

"Anthony, you seriously need to calm down-"

"I AM-"

"-BEFORE YOUR MOM FINDS OUT THAT'S SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH YOU!" She moves in closer and puts Anthony in a bear hug. When Steve sees Anthony's muscles began to ease up, so did his hands.

Mary then said, "Look, I'll see what I can do, but for now, stay with Marsha, ok?" She looks up at his face.

He nods his head a little and walked to the door next to Steve's and walked through it.

"Anthony Matheson and his mom, Marsha," Mary said as they go back inside. "Marsha just got diagnosed with breast cancer last month. Anthony came all the way from San Francisco to move back in with her. The man gets a lot of respect from me, but not Mike. I'd hear them arguing in the middle of the night whenever I get home from work." Sign. "It really hurts Marsha's ears, and it worries both me and her whenever Anthony goes out to confront Mike." Mary suddenly looks at the ground with a blank stare.

Steve bows his head. He knows all too well the pain and hardship of caring for a sick parent. His mom died of pneumonia when he was 17. He remembered how she would have those violent coughing fits and then stop breathing after those fits. She would always have the chills. making it a challenge trying to keep her warm. She would always be in bed because she was too weak to move her legs. Steve worked whatever jobs he could find to try and buy any medicine that would make her feel better or at the very least take the pain away, but it was barely enough even to buy food. He hated watching his mother fade away in front of his very eyes, but what he hated most of all was feeling so damn helpless. He knows what Anthony and his mother are going through, and he'll make sure to help them in whatever way he can.

Steve wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her towards him. He slowly wraps the other arm around her upper back and pulls her even closer into the hug. Steve can tell that she's trying to hold back tears from her breathing heavily. She finally gives in and wraps both arms around Steve's waist, squeezing as hard as she could.

She sniffles into his shirt. "Marsha's the closest thing I have to a mother and the closest thing to . From first day I met her, she's always been there for me. I owe that woman so much but I can only give so little."

Wanting to get her mind off of those painful thoughts, Steve remembered the conversation they were having earlier. "Are the other neighbors like Mike?"

"No!. That door to your left as you walk into your front door, there's an old woman who goes by Mrs. Abbott. Every Sunday, she likes to give out fresh homemade bread, pies, and cookies to the homeless around the corner up by that light. She's the sweetest old woman you'll ever meet. Some Sundays I go out and help her and she lets me pick out something for my kids as payment." Mary leans off of Steve and looks around the room. "You know what time it is?"

"Yeah." Steve looks at his wrist watch. "It's 4:21."

"SHIT!"

 


End file.
